Who could I have been
by Grandelusions
Summary: What if Sakura would have went with Sasuke when he left the village? What could she have become? Feeling out the story for now, hoping for feedback to help develop it. I will admit this though, there's gonna be lemony goodness somewhere in here :)
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

As Sakura stood crying in the dark, she meant every word; "I beg you! Please stay here! I will even help you with your revenge! If that is not possible, please take me with you..." He laughed, a pity filled, disgusted laugh. "Don't make promises you can't keep. Would you really forsake your precious village? Could you stand seeing yourself in the pages of a bingo book? Would you kill your Sensei to achieve your mission? You're still annoying." She became enraged at his nonchalance to her sacrifice. "I'll prove I can." It came out with malice and something flashed over his face. Like lightening he was behind her. She stood, afraid to move while every hair on her body stood electrified at his proximity. Silence. "Sakura…Thank you. Keep up."

It felt like a brick dropped onto her guts, she was lost. Waves of, regret over her words, indecision in her choice, and finally acceptance as she looked over her shoulder at the village that in an instant was no longer her home. She wished she could say goodbye but the realization that Sasuke would leave her behind pushed her forward as she heeded his warning. She knew better than to ask any more of him, this backhanded invitation filled her with hope and it was good enough for now. However this may turn out, Sakura had now devoted herself to him and would stick by her promises.

The sound 4 bowed to their new commander as they apologized for the fight earlier. Sakura had little interest in their conversation; instead she gazed down on the Village Hidden in Leaves while a piece of her heart broke away. It was bittersweet to have this place be her last look at Konoha. With the sun rising in an hour, the empty streets would soon fill with the ebb and flow of her old life. But not today, it all changed now. It was the most beautiful and awful sight and Sakura would remember this moment forever. Her Will of Fire wouldn't be put out however; she decided that it would smolder within her barely an ember. She would get Sasuke his revenge, and they would go back home to Konoha.

After barely hearing their conversation, it was clear the 4 were unhappy with their new company. But Sasuke's words were law and it wasn't up for discussion. He spoke with melancholy, "We meet in the sound in 2 days, Kill anything that gets in the way." The 4 responded immediately with blood-lust in their eyes. Sasuke turned to Sakura making it obvious he viewed her as the weak link. "Am I clear?" He stated this with a hardened expression but there was no irritation in his voice. She narrowed her eyes at the 4 smirking at her, and turned to her new commander… "Crystal." He turned lazily, "Then let's move."

Every millimeter of Sakura's body ached. They had been jumping from limb to limb for over a day, only stopping for moments to refill their canteens or stuff a handful of berries or raw fish in their mouths. She had been falling behind slowly over the past few hours and it was apparent her body was about to shut down. She had completely drained her chakra after the most recent look over Sasuke's shoulder told her what he was thinking, "I knew she couldn't do it." So she pushed harder to prove him wrong but the latest attempt was failing miserably. As she was about to push off and finally close the distance between them she felt it. Sakura's knee was frozen, her legs solid as stone, and with gravity quickly at work the only sound she made was the rush of air blasting out of her lungs as her body slammed into the ground. Immediately they surrounded her. She heard the 4 comment, "Pitiful. So weak. Pathetic. I told you she couldn't make it." Sasuke's voice went unheard and she knew she would wake up alone. Too weak to follow his simplest order, she really was pathetic.

Sakura realized, as the darkness closed in around her field of vision, she wasn't crying. Whether it was the exhaustion or just out of spite, it didn't matter. She had already gotten stronger and it almost gave her enough energy to chuckle.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Sakura felt warmth as consciousness came back to her. Her initial thought, "I died?" But her feeble attempts to move sent searing pain that told her exactly how alive she was. She didn't have the energy to open her eyes, and Sakura knew her options were limited if she was with a stranger; either she would be taken back home or simply killed. The latter seemed preferable over facing her village and former teammates. As she started to formulate a plan, Sasuke's voice asked flatly, "You gonna eat?" This wasn't possible; clearly she's suffering from a head trauma and was hallucinating. When she rolled over, the flames sketched a silhouette that was unmistakable and the scene in front of her jolted her eyes to focus, he looked sick. How long had she been out? Sakura quickly crawled to him since standing let alone walking was not an option. He leaned away from her but his weakness wouldn't allow him to contest her kneeling over him. She could tell his chakra was intact, stronger than ever and felt different. Seemingly, his body couldn't hold it.

"What did you do?" Sakura's tone was accusatory and filled with worry.

He grunted, "Curse mark. I'll recover soon."

It was a terrible truth but he was right, it had been minutes and he was already looking better. The Curse Juinjutsu was impressive if nothing else; if flipping a coin between death and Godlike power isn't too exciting for you. Even a Genin knows to respect something like that.

"Where are your minions?" she found herself smirking at her attempted wit.

He became tense next to her, "Dealing with a problem."

She glanced over and chirped back at him, "So, they left you like this?" She didn't feel the need to hide her disdain for them.

He nearly sighed when he spoke, "I'm fine, stop being annoying."

And in fact, he was looking healthy again. She backed off him and took up the bowl he motioned to at his feet. She didn't have the self-control to be ladylike and with 2 breathes it was gone. The warmth of her revitalized chakra was starting to flow again.

Sakura settled into an almost comforted state. "So…problem?"

He swallowed, "6 leaf nin"

The bowl made a thud as it hit the ground. With her mind spinning; they were so close to Sound, how did they…? It hit her with a shudder; their impromptu break over her previous failure gave them time to catch up.

She glanced in his direction but dropped her gaze out of shame before speaking, "It won't happen again, thank you for staying."

Sasuke turned toward her but said nothing. His posture told her he had been planning for this.

When he spoke it rattled her, "you can guess who's with them and they will be our problem soon."

She stared into the flames afraid to face him with the tears stinging at the corners of her eyes. Feeling this reaction she became slightly disgusted with herself.

"You can go back with them, don't be a fool" the tone made his motive unclear.

The tears dried instantly at the comment as Sakura's rage exploded. In a moment she was on top of him nose to nose. "You don't get to talk like you regret this anymore. You invited me. I gave up everything. You're my world now, and if you can't love me back, you can try to appreciate me at the very least!" She hoped her words would cut into him as his so often did her. It showed in his wide eyes he was briefly shocked but no one more so than her. As her blood boiled Sasuke made the first move. Leaning forward painfully slow until his mouth was at her ear, barely a whisper, "I'm sorry." Her pulse stopped and she went dizzy with her now fading adrenalin, she leaned back and sat next to him, both were apparently trying to recover from her outburst. Staring into the fire, their reality came back to them and she broke the silence.

"Is there a plan?" She was almost afraid to ask; thinking of her orange and silver haired comrades with the desperate Uchiha next to her. Sure enough, she heard what she feared most.

"I'm going to kill them."

She must have been holding her breath because she sighed loudly, "Any other options?" He shot a look at her so violent she could have fallen over, clearly the answer was no. "What do you need me to do?" as she asked, her posture slumped.

"Stay out of my way" his resolve was painful but Sakura had no choice but to follow orders, she knew she would get injured if she intervened.

"Fine, but if it gets bad we'll take them as a team." Finally her resolve matched his and she was quite proud that he didn't make any motion to contradict her. It was time to move, they would continue North to the Valley of the End. The irony wasn't lost on her and as she watched Sasuke put the fire out with a single hand seal, she hardened a piece of herself and secretly hoped she would be able to say goodbye.

The valley was serene; the statues of the men that carved the land were glittering, standing wet in the sun. After making a quick survey of the border, the two made quick work coming down the falls and met in the basin. Sakura knew better than to misinterpret Sasuke's lazy demeanor as any type of weakness. Not even turning to face her he spoke, "He's close, go hide."

With a shift of her hip and a raised eyebrow even HE knew that wasn't happening. The cold blooded Uchiha broke their stare down and she knew she had won.

He was clearly uncomfortable with the assertiveness he had become victim to earlier. "Fine, just stay back."


End file.
